Contextual display of information with an interactive user interface for television

ABSTRACT

A user interface for interactive television services is represented as a visual overlay that provides a viewer with knowledge of a library of available content relating to a currently tuned to television channel and navigation options for selecting desired portions of the available content from the library, the available content being designated according to business rules specified by a provider of the interactive television services. The visual overlay may be displayed over full-screen or embedded television programming, which may be broadcast television programming or on-demand television programming.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 13/611,986, filed Sep. 12, 2012, which is acontinuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No.10/618,210, filed Jul. 11, 2003, and titled “Programming ContextualInteractive User Interface for Television”, which in turn is related toand claims priority to U.S. provisional application number 60/395,277,filed Jul. 11, 2002, and is a continuation-in-part of the followingapplications:

-   -   1. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/247,901, filed Sep. 19,        2002, and titled “Interactive User Interface for Television        Applications”;    -   2. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/390,064 (now U.S. Pat.        No. 8,042,132), filed Mar. 14, 2003, and titled “System and        Method for Construction, Delivery and Display of iTV”; and    -   3. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/460,950, filed Jun. 12,        2003, and titled “Graphically Rich, Modular, Promotional Title        Interface for Interactive Television.”

Each of the above mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety. Additionally, each of the followingapplications is also incorporated by reference in its entirety:

-   -   1. U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/323,658, filed        Sep. 19, 2001, and titled “Interactive User Interface for        Television Applications”;    -   2. U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/364,545, filed        Mar. 15, 2002, and titled “iTV Application Client”; and    -   3. U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/388,493, filed        Jun. 12, 2002, and titled “Graphically Rich, Modular,        Promotional Tile Interface for Interactive Television.”

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to user interfaces for interactivetelevision (iTV), which in one embodiment serve as a set of informationpresentation architectures for enabling users of iTV services to accessa range of broadcast and on-demand programming content related to acurrent broadcast and channel context of the television viewer, andoffered through an iTV network, and made available via applications thatmay execute on a set-top box.

BACKGROUND

In the past few years, home entertainment has evolved from purelyone-way radio and television broadcasts to include two-way communicationthat encompasses interactive games, video on demand (VOD), educationalfare and consumer-oriented services (e.g., interactive shopping). Forthe most part, these services have been offered through familiar cableand satellite television distribution systems.

Broadly speaking, there are two paradigms for using cable and satellitesystems in this fashion. One is computer-centric: using an installedsatellite or cable feed (perhaps with a cable or telephone network backchannel) as a high-bandwidth conduit to bring on-line computingservices, such as Internet access, into the home. The second istelevision-centric: adding interactive functions to televisionprogramming.

In general, systems deployed using the television-centric model havebeen grouped under the label “interactive television” or iTV. iTV isgenerally understood as the convergence of Internet-like interactivityand traditional television programming and delivery technology. Makingtelevision interactive involves the addition of responsive,user-controlled elements to traditional broadcast video and audiosignals. By adding a computer like device (usually referred to as aset-top box) to the television set and providing a communication pathback to the service provider (the back channel), the viewer can beinvited to interact with the programming, exert some level of controlover the experience and to provide feedback.

iTV services are usually delivered to subscribers' homes through anexisting cable or satellite system, along with other free and pay-forcontent (e.g., movies, games, news, images, audio programming, etc.).This content is generally delivered to the television via a set-top box,and users may navigate the offered services using a remote control andon-screen navigation system or menu. The set-top box is an addressablecommunications unit needed to decode signals as they arrive at thetelevision. Depending on the system used it may also need to performfunctions such as the decompression of the digital signal, or thehandling of communications across the back channel. Together with a(typically handheld) remote control and on-screen menu, this unitprovides an interface for users to find their way through the myriad ofcontent and services offered and communicated to their television setsby the iTV system provider.

To illustrate, consider the case of a user ordering a pay-per-viewmovie. Using a remote control the user can select the desired servicevia the on-screen menu displayed on his or her television set. Thisrequest is sent via the back channel to the service provider's controlsystem, which locates the required content and delivers it via a cableor satellite transmission system to the set-top box for decoding anddisplay on the user's television. Along the way, a subscriber managementsystem may be informed of the user's selection so that the user'saccount can be updated to reflect any relevant charges for the selectedmovie.

The on-screen menu may or may not be overlaid on top of the televisionpicture. Common examples of on-screen menus include electronic programguides (EPGs), electronic catalogs, and advertising information.Television program guides have matured rapidly in recent years. At onetime the only TV program guides available were those printed innewspapers and magazines. These guides typically had a grid with list ofchannels, showing the programming for those channels as a function oftime. They also sometimes contained synopses of movies or televisionshows scheduled to be aired.

The advent of cable television systems brought on-screen EPGs. The earlyversions consisted of a dedicated channel displaying a program guidethat showed the current (and perhaps limited future) programming formost or all channels. Since there is only space to show half a dozen orso channels on the screen at a time, the display would automaticallyscroll through all the available channels.

Today, however, many cable companies utilize set-top boxes to provideinteractive EPGs that support advanced features such as the ability tocall up a program guide grid at any time, and scroll through channelsand programming forward and backward in time via a remote control.Usually information on programming for some days into the future is madeavailable. In addition, modern EPGs can display lists of channelnumbers, program titles and even program durations, appearing brieflyeach time the channel is changed, and at other times by selecting acorresponding option on the remote control. Textual descriptions of anyprogram listed in the program grid, or of the current program beingviewed, can be called up by using the remote control, and a user canchange channels automatically by clicking on a program title as it isdisplayed in the program grid.

In addition to EPGs, popular iTV offerings include:

A. TV Portals. Influenced no doubt by the analogy to popular Internet“portals” such as AOL and YAHOO, many think of a television (TV) portalas a non-video, non-broadcast, “Internet-like” page on TV. Contrary tothis popular opinion, however, a TV portal is actually an application“window” into the world of interactivity that links various forms ofservices, including walled gardens (also known as managed content) thatmay contain video, text and image assets, delivered via both broadcastand narrowcast, virtual channels, interactive program guides (IPGs),enhanced TV broadcasts, video on demand (VOD) content and more. In fact,many interactive experiences can originate from the TV portal or userscome into the TV portal for additional content and services. Thus, theportal may be accessed through a navigation overlay on top of regularbroadcasts or through an IPG, virtual channel or enhanced programming.

Network operators, programmers and content producers have an opportunityto custom brand the content areas of TV portals, providing them with afoundation for offering interactive services and enabling new revenuestreams. A portal can contain a controlled set of valuable, aggregatedcontent and merchant sites accessible by consumers. Portal participantscan consist of e-commerce providers, such as home shopping, home bankingand brokerage services; various news services; weather and sportsinformation providers; as well as advertisers, TV programmers and othercontent producers.

Managed content designed for a TV environment can be linked to the TVportal, forming an interactive experience that combines the convenient,audio-visually entertaining medium of TV with the immediate informationaccess and electronic purchasing powers often seen on the Internet. Theportal offers a secure environment with a common TV-centric userinterface, personalization capabilities and cross-merchant shoppingcapabilities. Some of the key components of portal content include:

-   -   i. Basic Personalized Information—Basic on-demand information        services available to end users (subscribers) are based on their        preferences and/or profile, including headline news, sports news        and scores, local weather, horoscopes, business news and stock        quotes.    -   ii. Branded Content—Information services in various categories        include branded sources such as television networks, which may        provide information and entertainment services in portals to        augment their regular TV programming.    -   iii. Shopping—“T-commerce” or “TV Commerce” includes categories        such as books, video, music, gifts, electronics, apparel, travel        and toys, as well as advanced shopping features such as        comparison shopping, cross-merchant shopping carts and auctions.    -   iv. Advertising—Advertising opportunities are widely available        throughout the iTV landscape. Unlike Internet portals, which        only provide targeted and personalized banner ads, broadband        access and the rich medium of TV provide a compelling        advertising vehicle, drawing consumers into a TV-centric        entertainment experience that drives responses while providing        the same targeting and personalization capabilities of the        Internet.    -   v. Self-provisioning—Through a network operator's TV portal,        subscribers can manage their own billing information and        preferences, and subscribe to new services including premium        services, e-mail, games, video on demand and more.    -   vi. Virtual Channels—A virtual channel is a custom-branded TV        channel that can be accessed from programming, the main menu or        info bar, from a network operator portal, an IPG or by manually        selecting a specified channel number (e.g., channel 401). Within        such a channel, a TV network, advertiser or content provider can        combine a video library with Internet or database content, and        on-demand features enable viewers to control their interactions        with the information. Thus, virtual channels allow for specific        content opportunities for niche audiences, targeted advertising,        brand building, and program promotions, as well commerce and        subscription revenue streams.

B. Interactive Program Guides (IPGs). The IPG is the navigation tool forTV viewing, allowing viewers to easily search for programming by time,channel, program type, and so on. It is an essential tool for iTV users,especially as the number of channels and other offerings increase. IPGsprovide an opportunity for companies to offer an increasingly largeamount of data in an easy-to-use interface.

C. Personal Video Recorders (PVRs). PVRs store video programming on aninternal hard drive and function like a personalized video server,allowing end-users to “time shift” their TV viewing. While watching liveTV, the user can “pause” and “rewind”, as well as “fast-forward” tocatch up to the live broadcast. PVRs also act as autonomous agents,searching all of the available programming and building a dynamic menuof personalized content choices that the user can access at his/herconvenience. Currently most PVRs are stand-alone units, developed andmarketed by companies such as TIVO and REPLAY NETWORKS (now SONICBLUE).

D. Video On Demand (VOD) Services. VOD is essentially server-side timeshifting (vs. client-side in the case of PVRs). Users are able to play,pause and rewind videos on their TVs via their remote control. Companiessuch as CONCURRENT, DIVA, SEACHANGE and NCUBE provide VOD servertechnology.

E. Enhanced TV Broadcasts. Enhanced TV broadcasting provides interactivecontent linked to video programming. A user can request information onproducts within ads, access additional program information, such assports statistics, or otherwise interact with a television broadcastsuch as a game show. This functionality is achieved through thetransmission of an interactive trigger and data sent in the broadcastchannel or other mechanism along with the video broadcast. For example,ATVEF (the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum) triggers are messagesthat arrive at a specific point in time during a broadcast (e.g., viatext channel 2 of the closed caption channel carried on line 21 of NTSCvideo), and are intended to activate specific enhanced content.

Enhanced TV broadcasts can be combined with other services within aunified TV portal, integrating with a walled garden or virtual channelcontent to leverage robust order processing, fulfillment infrastructureand revenue sharing agreements that may already in place.

F. Other Services. E-mail access, chat functions, music jukeboxes andphoto albums are examples of other iTV offerings.

Many of the applications listed above will be presented to end users viaa common user interface and order/transaction entry and tracking system.However, each application has specific integration, management anddistribution issues that arise depending on the environment that thenetwork operators choose to deploy and significant problems areexperienced by application providers and distributors in deploying andmanaging their iTV applications as a result. Stated differently,application providers and distributors face problems in developing andmanaging their iTV applications because there exists a proliferation oftechnologies and standards for the delivery of iTV applications anddifferent network operators have chosen to deploy different combinationsof these technologies. Content providers and application developers mustnavigate through this maze of often incompatible and unique combinationsof the equipment, technologies and standards, and often must develop aunique and different application for each such combination that theywish to target. For their part, network operators must deploy,configure, manage and operate iTV applications on each different networkconfiguration individually, increasing cost, complexity, and staffingneeds, while reducing the number of service that can be deployed, andthe quality of those services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a user interface for interactive television servicesis represented as a visual overlay that provides a viewer with knowledgeof a library of available content relating to a currently tuned totelevision channel and navigation options for selecting desired portionsof the available content from the library, the available content beingdesignated according to business rules specified by a provider of theinteractive television services. The visual overlay may be displayedover full-screen or embedded television programming, which may bebroadcast television programming or on-demand television programming.The business rules may be based on one or more of: time of day, channel,current broadcast content, current on-demand content, preferredplacement of content, viewer demographic information, viewer behavior,navigation context, and current content category.

In some cases, the visual overlay may include a grouping of tiles fordisplaying options within the library of available content. Placementand content of the tiles within the visual overlay depends upon thebusiness rules, and the content of the tiles may include one or more of:channel logos, specific program logos or brands, including images, andimages of people and things.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and notlimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an iTV network suitable fordistribution of user interface applications configured in accordancewith the present invention.

FIGS. 2A-2E illustrate examples of user interfaces configured inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a basic user interface configured inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates and example of another user interface having tiledcontent areas configured in accordance with a further embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, the present invention provides an improved userinterface and user experience for accessing and navigating to iTVcontent, services and other applications that are related to an iTVchannel. The user interface may be embodied as a television applicationthat provides navigation, information and communication servicestogether, over full-screen television or embedded/scaled televisionprogramming. The application serves as a user interface for iTV servicesand content related to a broadcast channel and may be accessed throughoperation of a remote control device associated with a set-top box orsimilar unit (which may, in some cases, be incorporated into atelevision set, a PVR or other multi-function unit). The presentinvention also provides a unique scheme by which, in one embodiment,network operators, programmers and broadcasters can easily deploy andmake accessible to iTV subscribers a library of available content in aneasy-to-use manner that combines current broadcast content with otherservices related to the broadcast channel in a smooth way that can blurthe distinction between the current broadcast and related broadcasterassets, if the viewer so chooses.

The above-referenced provisional patent application 60/388,493, entitled“Graphically Rich, Modular, Promotional Tile Interface for InteractiveTelevision”, and its utility application counterpart, generallydescribed (1) user interface methods to combine broadcast programmingand on-demand content in a smooth way that provides a very subtletransition to related on-demand or broadcast content; (2) user interfacemethods wherein the viewer is presented different content selectionsbased on the current programming content, to enhance the currentprogramming and extend the content bandwidth; and (3) tiled userinterfaces wherein business rules can be based on (3a) time of day, (3b)channel, (3c) current broadcast content. Further, the above-referencedprovisional patent application 60/323,658, and its utility applicationcounterpart Ser. No. 10/247,901, described generally a user interfaceapplication that may be embodied as a television application to providenavigation, information and communication services together, overfull-screen television or embedded/scaled or pre-produced to scaletelevision programming. The present invention combines these twoconcepts and elucidates, as embodied through several user interfaceexamples, how information and on-demand services related to the currentbroadcast or on-demand programming and channel context can be madeavailable to the television viewer.

The present user interface is termed herein a “Channel Assistant” andmay be regarded as an application that leverages the Application Clientand Application Server described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application60/364,545 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/390,064 to provideprogramming-specific textual, graphical and video related content. TheChannel Assistant can work in conjunction with, or independently of theTV Assistant described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/323,658and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/247,901. More specifically, theChannel Assistant is an interactive application that provides amechanism for presenting related text, graphics and video, scheduledand/or on-demand, to particular video programming, scheduled and/oron-demand. The Channel Assistant application is presented with anintuitive, compelling visual interface over video programming.

The Channel Assistant operates in a client-server environment in whichthe Channel Assistant is the client. The architecture of thisenvironment is described in detail in the above-cited patentapplications; however, a brief review is presented herein in order toprovide readers with sufficient background to understand the remainingdiscussion of the Channel Assistant. Referring then to FIG. 1, theserver-side component (labeled Channel Assistant Server 10) isresponsible for delivering data to the client application (ChannelAssistant) resident at set-top box 12. Data delivery mechanisms mayinclude, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: InternetProtocol (IP) messages, such as through in-band or out-of-band datapathways, or though an IP gateway product; or in-band or out-of-bandcarousel data. Such data may also be encapsulated within MPEG 2 packetsfor transmission through the in-band broadcast system.

The server 10 extracts, collects, integrates, and deploys content and,optionally, commerce from a variety of sources 14 such as web servers,raw television feeds, and data sources (such as file servers, etc.) intorich television-centric services. It thus allows existing Internetbrands, content, and commerce services to be introduced to a newaudience of viewers. Content is dynamically harvested, re-purposed andenriched for the television without affecting the existing technologyinfrastructure or publishing resources of the content provider.

As shown, content from the various sources 14 is retrieved by theChannel Assistant server 10 (one example of a server suitable for thispurpose is described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/841,017, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSFORMING CONTENT FOREXECUTION ON MULTIPLE PLATFORMS”, filed Apr. 23, 2001 and assigned tothe assignee of the present invention, the complete disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference) and formatted according toinstructions provided via a configuration file 16. This configurationfile 16 (which can specify “business rules” for content collection,update, etc.) is created by the network or content service provider andis used to create the selected contents and the delivery location of aContents file 18, which is the data file that contains the content to bedisplayed in the Channel Assistant. The configuration file 16 thusallows the operator of a given head-end, through a web interface orother command interface, to specify information regarding content suchas location, syndication sources, number of items displayed per source,etc. It also allows the operator to indicate where the Contents file 18is to be deployed.

The Contents file 18 is uploaded to an appropriate broadcast file server(BFS) 20 (e.g., using HTTP POSTs on a scheduled basis), which isresponsible for delivering the Contents file 18 to the client-sideapplication using the selected delivery mechanism (e.g., TCP/IP over anexisting signaling channel or via a data carousel channel, etc.). TheChannel Assistant server 10 thus creates a Contents file 18 fordistribution to a set-top box 12 via a network operator's existingcontent delivery platform.

After receiving the Contents file 18, the client application (ChannelAssistant) associated with set-top box 12 is responsible for reading thefile and displaying the corresponding content. The Channel Assistantclient application may be implemented in any of several ways, forexample as a stand-alone application (e.g., written in a programminglanguage such as JAVA or C for a given iTV system), or described in XMLas enabled by the Application Client appropriate to a given iTV system.Further, the client-side component may be provided to the set-top box 12in any of several ways depending on the set-top platform being used. Forexample, the client application may be flashed onto the set-top box 12as a stand-alone application or as an extension or customization) ofsome set-top box resident application, or TV middleware system; or as abroadcast application that is carouseled to the set-top box 12 over anin-band or out-of-band data channel from the broadcast server 20.

Regardless of the transport method, the client application instantiatesitself in the set-top box 12 and thereafter specifies the user interfacemenu's on-screen size and location. This allows the menu to bepositioned in a specific region of the TV screen, for example asspecified by x-y coordinates. Upon receipt of the Contents file 18, theclient application reads the data contained in that file to populate theuser interface.

The Channel Assistant may be activated in multiple ways; for example:

-   -   1. As a user tunes to/views a particular broadcast/scheduled        television channel the user is presented with either a) a visual        cue that the channel offers additional, related content; or b)        the related text, graphic or video link.    -   2. As a user accesses/views a particular piece of on-demand        programming the user is presented with either a) a visual cue        that the channel offers additional, related content; or b) the        related text, graphic or video link.        Further, the Channel Assistant has knowledge of the television        channel lineup as well as the appropriate system on-demand        listings information. As such, the Channel Assistant application        may detect the channel/on-demand content and will receive the        appropriate data and layout instructions from the server.

The following scenarios exemplify the behavior of one implementation ofthe Channel Assistant user interfaces. Any menu choices are entirelysubject to network operator, programmer, or broadcaster requirements andthe following is only intended to illustrate one possible implementationand not to specify the entire range of options that may be providedthrough this architecture.

1. Channel Assistant Triggered when TV Assistant is on Screen.

Assume for this example that the TV Assistant (which is an informationpresentation architecture for enabling users of iTV services to access arange of broadcast, on-demand programming and other content) has beenmanually triggered by the user and is currently on screen. When the userchanges channel to a Channel Assistant enabled TV channel, the interfacechanges to signal the user that broadcaster-specific content isavailable. The user may choose to view the broadcaster's content byselecting the television station call letters displayed in the on screenmenu and, as a result of the selection, the content area changes todisplay the broadcaster-specific content. In this embodiment, thecontent layout and functionality mirrors that of the TV Assistant, withcontent and advertisements specific to the broadcaster. When the userchanges off the broadcaster's channel, the on screen display reverts tothe TV Assistant.

The above scenario is illustrated in FIGS. 2A through 2E. FIG. 2Aillustrates an example of embedded television content being displayed ona TV set with the TV Assistant screen. The term “embedded” is used toindicate that the entire television program display has been reduced tofit within a television content window of the TV Assistant. Other modesprovide for the TV Assistant to simply be overlaid on top of a fullscreen television content display.

FIG. 2B now illustrates a situation where the viewer has changedchannels and is now tuned to the ESPN™ broadcast channel. Recognizing(e.g., via information provided by the Channel Assistant server, thatthis is a channel for which broadcaster-specific content is available,the Channel Assistant replaces the TV Assistant menu on screen andsupplies current ESPN-related, on-demand content to the user interface(in this case the content is sports scores). Further viewer actions areavailable to navigate through the broadcast channel-related interactivecontent.

FIG. 2C illustrates a situation where the viewer has tuned from the ESPNchannel to the CNBC™ broadcast channel. Again this is a channel forwhich broadcaster-specific content is available and so the ChannelAssistant supplies CNBC-related, on-demand content (in this case food,news, sports, and weather categories) to the user interface. In thisexample, the Channel Assistant is displayed with an initial screenthrough which cycles current CNBC interactive news headlines. Furtherviewer actions are available to navigate through the broadcastchannel-related interactive content.

FIG. 2D illustrates a situation where the viewer has selected the Foodtile referenced in FIG. 2C. CNBC-related “Food” information is thusdisplayed to the viewer, in this case an interactive poll seekinginformation as to the viewer's favorite CNBC chef FIG. 2E illustrates asituation where the viewer is shown the current results of theinteractive poll taken over the CNBC audience segment that participatedin the “favorite chef” poll.

2. Channel Assistant Triggered by Channel Change.

In this example the Channel Assistant exists in a basic form as aninformational overlay with basic information about the current channel(channel number, broadcaster call letters, time, etc). When the userchanges channels, Channel Assistant changes to display the current datafor that specific channel. When the user changes channels to a ChannelAssistant-enabled TV channel, an advanced interface is presented withadditional, broadcaster-specific content. In this embodiment, thecontent layout and functionality is independent of any other applicationbut the interface is consistent between the basic and advanced forms.When the user changes off the broadcaster's channel, Channel Assistantreverts to basic form.

This embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 illustrates aChannel Assistant screen (without the television content) where thecurrent broadcast channel has no interactive services enabled. As shownin FIG. 4, when the viewer changes to a Channel Assistant-enabledchannel (for example to NBC channel 10) the interactive content services(NBC Channel 10 News and Weather in this example) associated with thatchannel are made available to the viewer via the Channel Assistant userinterface. In addition, the general network operator on-demand servicesinterface may also be displayed for the user to navigate.

Thus, an improved user interface and user experience for accessing andnavigating to iTV content, services and other applications that arerelated to an iTV channel has been described. The present user interfaceprovides, among other things:

-   -   1. methods to dynamically provide multiple entry points to        content;    -   2. methods that break the limitations of existing linear        interfaces for channel-related interactive content and services;    -   3. methods to dynamically illustrate both the breadth and depth        of current programming, broadcast or on-demand, channel and        associated available on-demand programmer content at the same        time;    -   4. methods to combine live broadcast programming and on-demand        content into a single interactive service that provides a subtle        transition to the related programming content;    -   5. methods for presenting time-shifted user interfaces that        present different content selections to viewers based on time of        day for a given broadcast TV channel;    -   6. methods for presenting different content selections based on        the current broadcast content, to enhance the current broadcast        and extend the content bandwidth;    -   7. formats consisting of groupings of tiles wherein the number        of tiles in each screen grouping can be dynamically controlled        and the tiles may be selected and the groupings may be        individually scrollable using a remote control device;    -   8. formats wherein the tiled screen groupings can be configured        at a prior time and dynamically selected using business rules;    -   9. formats wherein individual placement and content of tiles        within a group can be controlled dynamically using business        rules;    -   10. methods wherein business rules can be based on:        -   i. time of day,        -   ii. channel,        -   iii. current broadcast content,        -   iv. current on-demand content,        -   v. preferred placement of content,        -   vi. viewer demographic,        -   vii. viewer behavior,        -   viii. navigation context, and        -   ix. current content category;    -   11. methods wherein the content of tiles can be dynamically        controlled to include:        -   i. channel logos,        -   ii. specific program logos or brands, including images, and        -   iii. images of people and things.

Although discussed with reference to certain illustrated embodiments,however, the present invention should only be measured in terms of theclaims, which now follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: responsive to receiving anindication of a user selection of an identifier of a channel or programfrom a displayed menu: populating, by a computing device, a portion of acontent guide with interactive content that is related to the channel orprogram and is configured to collect data based on user input, andcausing the portion of the content guide populated with the interactivecontent to be displayed with video of the channel or program.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein causing the portion of the content guidepopulated with the interactive content to be displayed with the video ofthe channel or program comprises causing display of the portion of thecontent guide as an overlay over full-screen programming for the channelor program.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the portion of thecontent guide populated with the interactive content to be displayedwith the video of the channel or program comprises causing the portionof the content guide to be displayed in combination with embeddedprogramming for the channel or program.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the video of the channel or program comprises at least one ofbroadcast programming or on-demand programming.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the interactive content is based on business rules comprisingone or more of the following: time of day, channel, current broadcastcontent, current on-demand content, preferred placement of content,viewer demographic information, viewer behavior, navigation context, orcurrent content category.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the contentguide comprises a grouping of tiles configured to display options withina library of available content.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein thetiles are placed and comprise content based on business rules comprisingone or more of the following: time of day, channel, current broadcastcontent, current on-demand content, preferred placement of content,viewer demographic information, viewer behavior, navigation context, orcurrent content category.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the contentof the grouping of tiles comprises one or more of channel logos, relatedprogram logos or brands.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:prior to populating the portion of the content guide with theinteractive content and causing the content guide populated with theinteractive content to be displayed with video of the channel orprogram, receiving an indication from a server that the interactivecontent is available for the channel or program; receiving, at thecomputing device, a selection of a second channel or program; andresponsive to receiving the selection of the second channel or program,determining that interactive content related to the second channel orprogram is not available for the second channel or program andpopulating the portion of the content guide with a non-interactivetextual description of the second channel or program.
 10. A method,comprising: responsive to selection of a first program: determining, bya computing device, that interactive content related to the firstprogram is available for the first program, populating a portion of acontent guide with the interactive content related to the first program,the interactive content related to the first program being configured tocollect data based on user input, and causing the portion of the contentguide populated with the interactive content related to the firstprogram to be displayed with video of the first program; and responsiveto selection of a second program, determining that interactive contentrelated to the second program is not available for the second programand populating the portion of the content guide with a non-interactivetextual description of the second program.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the video of the first program comprises at least one ofbroadcast programming or on-demand programming.
 12. The method of claim10, wherein the interactive content related to the first programcomprises an interactive poll.
 13. The method of claim 10, whereincausing the portion of the content guide populated with the interactivecontent related to the first program to be displayed with the video ofthe first program comprises causing display of the portion of thecontent guide as an overlay over full-screen programming for the firstprogram.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein causing the portion of thecontent guide populated with the interactive content related to thefirst program to be displayed with the video of the first programcomprises causing the portion of the content guide to be displayed incombination with embedded programming for the first program.
 15. Amethod, comprising: responsive to selection of a program: determining,by a computing device, that interactive content is available for theprogram, populating a portion of a content guide with the interactivecontent, the interactive content being related to the program andcomprising an interactive poll, and causing the portion of the contentguide populated with the interactive content to be displayed with videoof the program.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the video of theprogram comprises at least one of broadcast programming or on-demandprogramming.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein causing the portion ofthe content guide populated with the interactive content to be displayedwith the video of the program comprises causing display of the portionof the content guide as an overlay over full-screen programming for theprogram.